CLASSICS midter,

  • Establishment of the Mysteries

  • Eleusis: 

    • returning earth's fertility; Demester instructs Eleusis's people to worship her.

    • Centre of the mysteries

    • Women, children, slaves, and men all could participate

  • Doso

    • Old woman alias of Demester

    • Took care of Metarneira’s child; Demophon 


  • Eleusis 

  • The Mysteries 

    • Stages of initiation 

      • Lesser – Athens in Spring. Preparation/purification • 

      • Greater – September/October. More involved

    • Hierophant 

      •  highest priest rank who revealed the ultimate mysteries

    • Hiera 

      • Sacred Objects

    • Don’t worry about all the days and specifics of each, but the general flow of action

  • Greater Mystery Stages

    • Assemble in Athens (Greek/Pure invited)

    • Cleansing/ sacrifice/prayer

    • Honour Ascelpis

    • 6/7 Days; Core to Mysteries


Class 14 – The Afterlife Chapter 15

  • Know general characteristic of the afterlife as discussed by Homer Odyssey Bk 11, Plato Myth of Er, Vergil’s Aenid

  • Elysium – earliest mention in Homer Od , although nothing too specific

  • Glimpse of afterlife also present in Hesiod’s description of 4th race of men

  • Earliest ‘fleshed-out’ description comes form Odyssey, Bk 11

    • Odysseus heads to underworld to find spirit of Tiresias 

    • Blood sacrifices used to fill a pit, and the collected blood allowed spirits to talk o Elpenor can talk as his body was not yet properly dealt with and Tiresias could speak b/c he’s a seer (without blood) BUT – blood sacrifice in the ground – chthonic libation 

    • Odysseus goes through various stages as he interviews spirits – lamentation over Elphenor and his mother o Converses with heroes and also sees major criminals who have a particularly individually tailored punishment (ie. Tityus). 

  • Homeric underworld 

    • Difficult to interpret due to apparent discrepancies in text – is this a reflection of concepts put together by one man or by several? 

    • Vague description and geography. Located at the edge of the world. Has Oceanus as a barrier, but other rivers are later mentioned 

    • Mortals seem to all occupy the same plane together o Those that had extra punishment were mythical, not mortal

  • Plato’s Er 

    • Four doors with judges sitting between them passing sentence 

    • ALL souls must suffer an appropriate penalty for each and every sin TEN TIMES OVER. But REWARDS given for good deeds in same proportion o

    • Some mortal souls were so bad they were just cast into Tartarus 

    • Once souls are purified they go on a journey that leads to the spindle of Necessity (Ananke) – Different cosmological explanation of the universe - involving heavenly spheres, the Moirai, etc. 

    • Reincarnation – but it is a choice that many souls don’t get correct

  • Plato’s underworld

    • Conglomeration of sources that are no longer extant and notably different than Homer 

    • Perhaps new creation of Plato 

    • Now there is a clear depiction of heaven AND hell for all mortals 

    • Special torment for extreme sins

  • Vergil’s Book of the Dead

    •  Book 6 in the Aeneid – hero goes to the underworld to visit someone 

    • A detailed account of a shadowy afterlife fraught with tears and pathos 

    • Sibyl from Cumae acts as guide. Sacrifices required to open the gates to the underworld o Encounter spirits that cannot cross the river Tartarus until bodies in real life are properly dealt with

    • Aeneas is let in and past the river after assuring Charon they weren’t up to any trouble 

    • Degrees of heaven – neutral zone, Fields of Mourning, Tartarus, and Elysium 

    • Paradise linked to ideal life of Roman or Greek male

  • Common Elements of the Underworld

    • Tartarus/Judges/Rivers/Rulers/Canonical sinners/furies

Class 2+3 – Interpretation and Definition; Historical Background, Ch 1 + 2 

  • Myth (mythos), literal Greek meaning

    • “Word” or “Story”

  • True Myth/Myth Proper • 

    • Concerned with gods/divine beings and their relationship with humans.

  • Saga/Legend

    • Relationship [regardless of how strained/truthful] to history

  • Folktales

    • Entertainment; adventure, fantastic beings, heroes triumph

  • Fairytales

    • Moral lesson; for the young.

  • How truthful were and are myths 

    • Isn’t a clear cut answer; myth/truth varies.

    • Ex. Washington and the Delaware

  • Mircae Eliade, theory;

    • Myth as a tale; satisfies the yearning of human beings.

    • Spiritual release.

  • Cosmogony • 

    • Deals with the origin of the universe.

  • Etiological • 

    • “The reason or cause for …”

    • Using myths to explain facts that cannot otherwise be explained.

  • Rationalism/Euhemerism

    • Gods = deified historical heroes

    • Interpretation of myth derives gods from outstanding men - seeks the source of mythology in history

  • Metaphor/Allegory • 

    • Myth holds profound meaning.

    • Views myth as allegory (sustained metaphor); story details are symbols of universal truth.

  • Max Miller, Allegorical Nature Myths

    • Myths all reference meteorological/cosmological phenomena.

    • Ex. Winter succeeding summer.

  • Freud; Oedipus Complex

    • The attachment of the child to the parent of the opposite sex, accompanied by envious and aggressive feelings toward the parent of the same sex.

  • Freud/Jung’s Theory (Psychological Interpretation)

    • Myths are projections of collective consciousness.

    • Symbols or archetypes = primordial elements of society

    • Myth is an expression.

  • Anima/Animus Archetypes

    • Anima; archetype of a female that each man has within him.

    • Animus; archetype of a male which each woman harbors within her.

  • Structuralism

    • Theoretical approach; analyzes myth into their component parts.

  • Levi-Strauss

    • Myth as communication; musically, language.

  • V. Propp; Pattern/Theory

    • A perceivable pattern/structure will emerge

    • Possible to find the same structure in other myths; easier study.

    • Allows comparison of cross-culture myths

    • Easier to appreciate the development of myth.

  • Vladimir Propp

    • Linear structure; always occurs in the same order.

    • Motifemes; divided into 31 functions.

  • Burkert and his 4 theses

    • Myth belongs to the more general class of tales

    • Tale structures are founded on basic culture/biology

    • Identity of traditional tale has a sense of structure

    • Traditional tales have secondary, partial references to something of collective importance.

  • Status of Women and Theme of Rape, what did that term mean to Greeks? • 

    • Rape was ill-defined; percieved in moral and immoral ways.

    • Ex. Persephone was kidnapped and it was a negative thing, whereas Helen was kidnapped and it was a positive thing.

    • Ex. Zeus beginning a family tree vs. “he rapes her”

  • Homosexuality in Ancient Greece • 

    • Not condemned in ancient society/myth.

    • Sexuality was not uniform nor consistent.

  • Homer; Iliad/Odyssey

    • Odyssey/ Iliad; 750-650 (Archaic)

  • Hesoid: Theogony/WorksnDays

    • 730–700 BC (Archaic)

  • Vergil; Aeneid

    • Story of Aeneas; founded Rome.

    • 30-19 BC (Emp. Augustus Reign)

  • Ovid: Metamorphosis

    • Transformation/Creation

    • 8 AD.

  • Plato: Pausanius

    • Sharply criticizes those who take advantage of young, foolish boys, or of women for the sake of sexual gratification

    • 143 CE

  • Homer: Homeric Hymns

    • 33 Total Hymns; longest to Demester/Persephone, Apollo, Hermes, Aphrodite, & Dionysus.

    • Archaic Period

  • Historic periods of Greece – Neolithic, Early/Middle Bronze Age, Mycenaean, Early Iron Age, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman • Linear B

    • Historical Periods of Greece, Order

      • Neolithic, Early/Middle Bronze Age, Mycenaean, Early Iron Age, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman

    • Neolithic [6k-3k BC]

      • Earliest habitation; mixture of interpretations.

      • Venus Figurines, Walls (war or viewpoints?) 

      • Sesklo + Dimini (Thessaly)

    • Early/Middle Bronze Age [

      • Divided into Early/Middle/Late

      • Crete/Minoan, Islands/Cycladic, Greece/Helladic, Antolia/Troy

    • Mycenaen

      • Highly Stratified Society (Wealth=Power)

      • Early forms of Olympic Gods

      • Less apparent references to religion

      • Cnossus Palace

    • Early Iron Age [1000-700 BC]

      • “Dark Ages;” Little evidence of habitation.

      • Lots of tombs (social memory)

    • Archaic [700-400 BC]

      • Genesis of Greek Culture; Poets Hesoid/Homer

    • Classical [480-323 BC]

      • Increased playwrights

    • Hellenistic [323-31 BC]

      • Experimental art, new interpretations of form, portrays of gods/mythical figures

    • Rome

      • Greece falls (146 BC) to Rome

      • “Captive Greece captured her rude conqueror;" Heavy social/religious influence in Rome.

  • What is the Mediterranean Triad?

    • Grapes, Grain, & Olives


Class 3 – Myths of Creation, Ch. 3 

  • Sacred Marriage; Examples + Name

    • Hieros Gamos

    • Hera/Zeus, Gaia/Uranus, Cronos/Rhea

  • First Generation;

    • From Chaos: Gaia, Tartarus, Eros, Erebus, Nyx

  • Second Generation;

    • Uranus, Mountains, Pontus

  • Third Generation

    • Titans, Cyclopes, Hectatonchires


  • Oceanus and Tethys –

    • Oceanids + Rivers

  • Gaia/Uranus

    • Titans, Hecatonchies, Cyclops

  • Hyperion and Theia

    • Selene (moon), Helios (sun), and Eos (dawn)

  • Hyperion & Phaethon

    • Phaethon drove his fathers chariot; crashed it into a part of the earth.

  • Selene and Endymion

    • Moon; Two horse chariot

    • Endymion lover who Zeus gives perpetual sleep/youth

  • Eos and Tithonus

    • Aphrodite makes her horny for Tithonus; Zeus makes Tithonus immortal but he still ages.

  • Eileithyia

    • Zeus/Hera

    • Goddess of Childbirth; depicted in pairs /w herself.

  • Hebe

    • Zeus/Hera

    • Goddess of youthful bloom; gods cupbearer

    • Wife to Heracles

  • Hephaeustus

    • God of creative fire/ divine smith

    • Lame; from birth or thrown off olympus; physical deformity

  • Ares

    • “Divine Swashbuckler;” associated /w bloody war

    • Origins attached /w Thrace

  • The Muses

    • Zeus/Mnemosyne

    • 9 Muses; Represent different aspects of expression.

  • The Fates

    • Zeus/Themis

    • Clotho/Lachesis/Atropos

  • The Horae

    • Zeus/Themis

    • “The Hours” - Time

  • Anthroporism

    • Concept of Gods as Idealized Humanity

    • Intensifying humanity; immortal yet tormented. 

    • Distinct food (ambrosia/nectar)

  • Greek Humanism

    • Idealistic optimism + realistic pessimism

    • Fueled by conviction that morals can reach triumph + acknowledging power of the fates/ pain of human existence.

  • Humanism

    • Philosophical stance emphasizing individual and social potential + agency of humans.

    • Starting point for philosophical inquiry + serious morals

  • Zeus, Hesiod

    • Strict, eye-for-an-eye. Harsh ruler.

  • Zeus, Xenophanes; 

    • One god; something completely distinct.

    • Beyond human morality, it does not resemble human form, cannot be born/die, no divine hierarchy.

  • Zeus, Aeschylus

    • Ambiguous idea; “whoever he may be”

  • Heus, key points

    • Great power; indirect mythology

    • Role of wife/mother (childbirth/marriage goddess)

    • Vengenful/Jealous; retributive

  • Zeus, key things.

    • Glorified Greek Img. Husband/Father

    • Dual Facated; Amoral or Immoral 

    • Different Cultural Standards

    • Eagle/Thunderbolt Association

    • FUCKS

  • Sanctuary of Zeus

    • East Pediment; Perfect ideal forms vs. The Sheer (chubby/older)

    • West Pediment;  Centaurs vs. Theseus/ Apollo (Apollo Calm vs. Centaurs Chaos)

    • Cult Stature in the middle.

  • Birthplace of Zeus

    • Born in Crete; raised in Lyctus, Crete.


Class 4 Zeus’ Rise to Power, Ch 4

  • Titanomachy; Sides

    • Zeus; Gods/ on Mt. Olympus + Hecatonchi

    • Titans; Cronos/ on Mt. Orthys

  • Titanomachy; Losers + Consequences

    • Titans lose; banished to Tartarus

  • Creation of mortals – Prometheus

    • “Tricks” Zeus - punishes humanity.

    • Prometheus steals fire from Hephaestus; gives it to humanity.

    • Punished by eagle/liver.

  • Gigantomachy – Gegeneis and Typhoeus

    • Zeus vs. Typhoeus (Gaia kid)

  • Common Elements of Myth

    • Creation, Succession, Flood, Descent into Underword, Hero-Kings

  • Five Ages/Races of Men

    • Gold, Silver, Bronze, Hero, Iron.

  • Gold Age

    • Kronos rules @ this time.

    • Carefree lives, immortal (didn’t age); died in sleep.

    • Gaia kills them.

  • Silver Age

    • Zeus Rules.

    • Peaceful 100yr childhood; aged, fought eachother and died.

    • Didn’t worship gods; Zeus kills them.

  • Bronze Age

    • Zeus Rules.

    • Mortal; care only for discord & fighting.

    • Kill each other / themselves.

  • Hero Age

    • Zeus Rules.Valiant, just people; Happy demigods.

    • Some die; some disappear.

  • Iron-

    • Zeus Rules

    • Heisodic Viewpoint; Humanity is the worst.

    • Work all day; unjust, wartorn, liars, arrogant.

  • Pandora

    • Trick for humanity; Hephaetus builds, Athena dresses, Aphrodite graces, & Hermes makes her a bitch.

    • Given to Epimetheus (Promethus Brother); brings all evil (disease, famine, etc).

  • Lycaon 

    • Cooked & Served his son to Zeus; defied guest rules.

  • Deucalion and Pyrrha 

    • Noah’s Ark equivalent; spared in great flood,

  • Eponymous

    • Giving their name to something; prior deities becoming synonymous with newer ones.


Class 5 – The 12 Olympians Ch 5

  • The Sanctuaries. What happens at each? General characteristics (ie. Games vs oracle). 

    • Olympia ▪ 

      • Myths portrayed via architectural sculpture. What and where?

      • Cult statue 

  • Dodona

    • Oracle of Zeus; written tablets concerning trivial questions (who should I marry?) were placed, and people sat beneath a tree. Zeus would whisper/oak leaves result to reveal answers to them.

  • Pythia

    • Oracle of Delphi

  • Herodotus 

    • “Father of History;” Massive documenter of Myth.

    • Viewed gods in the same plane; influenced but do not care/have interest in humanities redemption.

    • Dangers of Hubris/ Division of War

    • Wrote Story of Croesus

    • Writer of fact/fiction; mixed history and culture


Class 7, Poseidon Ch 7

  • Cultural Origins of Poseidon;

    • Patron of Inland cities; older cult traditions had him as a focal point.

    • “Father of Minyas” + Home in Aigai, Euboea

  • Oceanus;

    • Married Tethys; produced Oceanids/Polomi

    • Titan; “River Encircling the world”

    • Depicted /w horns; body of sorts.

  • Nereids; Important

    • From Nereus (From Pontus/Gaia)

    • Amphirite (Posiden Wife)

    • Thetis (Achilles Mom)

    • Galatea (Polyphoemus <3)

  • Prontus

    • Sea; Gaia/Urnanus, not a titan; primordial

  • Scylla and Charybdis

    • Posiden <3 Scylla; jealous Amphrite poisons her.

    • Body of a monster.

  • Thamaus

    • Father to; Iris + Harpies

  • Phorcys + Ceto

    • Parents to Gorgons + Graeae + Ladon

  • Medusa; Monsters Produced

    • Cerberus, Orthus

    • Hydra, Pegasus

  • Imagery

    • What were decorated ceramics used for?

    • Be able to identify individuals/creatures visually

  • Mystery Cults 

    • Fundamental Tenants; soul exists, good/evil in conflict, punishment/reward


Class 8, Athena Ch 8

  • Athena, General Char.

    • Metis/Zeus

    • Patron of Athens; goddess of wisdom, war, weaving.

  • Athena’s Epithets.

    • Promachos: bronze statue (pheidias)

    • Parthenos: chryselephantine (ivory/gold statue)

    • Polias; Temple which housed the Xoanin.

    • Nike; “Victory”

  • Athenian Acropolis

    • Athena Acropolos: Erechtheion 

      • .religious building; houses cult statue of athena (xoana or palladion)

      • cult center dedicated to mythological founders of city; (olive tree/trident mark)

      • named after Erechtheus, king of Athens.

    • Athena Acropolos: Parthenon ▪ 

      • Pediments: (N:Hera/Hebe, E: Athena Born, W: Athena vs. Poseidon) 

      • Metopes: tied by themes of greek courage

      • Cult statue – Athena Parthenos


Class 9, Aphrodite Ch 9

  • Aphrodite, Birth

    • Uranus (PENIS) or Zeus/Dione

    • Cythera/Cyprus; Birthplace

    • Castration of Uranus o 

  • Aphrodite; “natures”

    • Urania; Celestial

    •  Pandemos: Physical

  • Priapus 

    • Confusion with Pan or Dionysus

    • BIG BIG PENIS.

    • Fertility God

  • Pygmalion

    • Loves a statue; Galatea; aphrodite brings to life

    • Son: Paphos

  • Adonis o 

    • Son of Myrrha

    • Ignores Aph. warning; Boar Kills

  • Parallels to other regions:

    • Cybele and Attis

    • Worship of Cybele – frenzied devotion

    • Attis – resurrection god

    • Association with springtime

  • Aphrodite and Anchises 

    • No power over Athena, Artemis, and Hestia 

    • Aphrodite’s son (via Anchises) = Aeneas

    • Use of parallel myths of Ganymede and Tithonus

  • Eros 

    • Early deity or son of Aphrodite and Ares


ART

  • • Essential qualities

    • Huntress, golden arrows, virgin, close connection to Apollo (her twin brother)

  • Birth

    • Zeus and Leto

    • Born at Mt. Cynthus – Cynthia

    • Wanderings of Leto and connected stories – Lycians

  • Niobe

    • Niobe Krater

  • Actaeon

    • Witnesses Artemis -> Turned into a bear

    • Righteous or not?

  • Callisto and Arcas – etiological use of their story

    • Ursa Major and Ursa Minor

  • Orion 

    • Pleiades, Sirius 

    • Born in Boetia, blinded by Onepion; recovers sight, hunts /w Artemis, dies by bow or scorpion.

  • Arethusa 

    • Arcadian Nymph; Artemis helps her flee river god Alpheus.

  • Francois Krater 

    • Attic, Krater; depicts various things (Calydonian Boar Hunt, Achilles/Ajax)

  • Artemis Brauronia 

    • Brauron, precinct on Acropolis, bear attendants 

  • Ephesian Artemis 

    • Focus on childbearing aspect.

  • Connections with other goddesses 

    • Selene and Hecate 

    • Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. Connection to moon 

  • Euripides Hippolytus 

    • Artemis and Aphrodite used as foils against each other

    • Misogyny vs Misandry


Class 10 – Apollo + Delphi Ch 11

  • Hecatombs

    • Sacrifice of 100 oxen or cattle

  • Deliads

    • Festival in honor of Apollo

  • Anius and his daughters • 

  • Omphalos 

    • Two eagles released by Zeus; meet in the middle of the earth at this stone.

    • In Delphi.

  • Site of Delphi o 

    • Mt. Parnassus

  • The Oracle 

    • Tripod 

    • Pythia – high priestess of Apollo; vague answers to be interpreted.

    • Cumean Sybil; Possession by God

  • Cassandra, Apollo

    • Cursed to know the future, but have nobody believe her.

  • Marpessa, Apollo

    • Kidnapped by Idas, than Apollo

    • Given the choice; Picks Idas

  • Coronis

    • Burnt to a crisp; Mother to Asclepius

  • Daphne

    • Nymph; despises Apollo

    • Turned into a laurel tree; why Apollo wears one.

  • Cyrene

    • Wrestled a lion.

    • Apollo went wow hot. Ksis me.

  • Asclepius 

    • Connection to Chiron 

    • His staff –  One snake

    • His nature – mortal vs mythical 

    • Children as abstract concepts (Hygieia) 

    • Incubation


Class 11 – Hermes Ch 12

  • Main stories/plots from Homeric Hymn 4 (Hermes)

    • Invents Lyre

    • Steals Cattle

    • Confrontation with Apollo

    • Intercession and judgement of Zeus

    • Apollo and Hermes exchange gifts – transference of areas they oversee

  • Nature of Hermes 

    • Character qualities 

    • Numerous areas he oversees. Multifaceted and extreme anthropomorphism 

    • Indicia – Petasus, Talaria, Caduceus 

    • Psychopompos; escort dead to underworld

  • Slayer of Argus 

  • Other Qualities/Elements 

    • Sarpedon Krater

  • Hermes Trismegistus 

    • Another syncretism of Hermes

  • Hermes and Aphrodite o 

    • Hermaphroditus; beautiful nymph


Class 12 – Dionysus Ch 13

  • Dionysus 

    • Nature of Dionysus/defining qualities 

    • Dionysus = Bacchus 

    • Birth – Zeus and Semele, Semele burns, Dionysus survives, Zeus sews baby up in the thigh 

    • Childhood – taken by Hermes to Mt. Nysa – FOREIGN upbringing, starts a cult and as he grows up brings to spread it 

    • A kind of prophet – message of happiness and prosperity, DEATH if it is rejected 

  • Dithyramb 

    • Choral hymn to Dionysus

  • Maenads 

    • Alt. Bacchae; worshippers of Dionysus

    • Thrysus (pinecone staff), barefoot, snake headband

    • Nature of worship in the cult 

  • Euripides Bacchae 

    • Dionysus’ connection with Thebes. King Pentheus 

    • Women of Thebes struck with madness

    • Cadmus and Tiresias – sucking up to Dionysus

    • Agave – Pentheus’ mother. Kills her son; goes mad.

  • Tales of the spread of the cult 

    • Tiryns – daughters of Proetus. Melampus; cures /w masculine dance.

    • Orchomenos – daughters of Minyas; do not return to normal

  •  Companions of Dionysus 

    • Satyrs and Sileni. Characteristics 

  • Connection of Dionysus to drama 

    • Theatre of Dionysus in Athens and the Dionysia 

  • Side stories: 

    • Dionysus and the pirates, Midas, Pan, Echo and Narcissus